Vlad the Impaler finally out from Avalanche

[King_Stannis]

In my opinion the People at Avalanche press are doing their books a great disservice in their choice of cover art. The books are fantastic from the historical point of view but so many people that I talk to are completely turned away by the cover. On the other hand there covers have churned up quite a lot of conversation not a bad PR stunt, they have established an easily identified brand.

Well, you were kind of getting to what I wanted to say. Let’s assume that Avalanche (as a company) is not suicidal. They must be doing okay with these covers because they’ve been like that for well over a year now. They probably feel that the people they lose by covers are much less than the casual gamers they gain because of the “catchiness” of their illustrations. Then there are people like me, who will buy their stuff (provided it is of decent quality) BECAUSE of the whole cover controversy thing. I love beautiful cheesecake art. I also love politically incorrect people who thumb their nose at whiny-willies and hairy-heather’s. In other words, I love Avalanche Press.

 

[Voadam]

Teflon & Kap,

There is also a Ravenloft/Mask of the Red Death 2e gothic earth supplement for Transylvania available as an ESD on the WotC site. I don't have it but I'm thinking of picking it up just for the subject matter.

So has anyone actually gotten the Avalanche one? Any views on the gaming contents? I'm considering picking it up but I some info on the actual contents would be nice.

 

[Kaptain_Kantrip]

I should have my copy any day now from Avalanche.

I had forgotten about the Ravenloft Transylvania product, never found it in stores and was leery of buying it as I'm not a fan of Ravenloft... Anybody else have it?

 

[RogueJK]

I had forgotten about the Ravenloft Transylvania product, never found it in stores and was leery of buying it as I'm not a fan of Ravenloft... Anybody else have it?

I have the ESD, but I still haven't had a chance to read through it completely. It appears to focus mainly on Gothic Transylvania, sometime around 1890 (think Dracula, the novel). It does have a section detailing the history of Transylvania, though.

While Avalanche Press' product seems to focus more on medieval Transylvania, the Masque of the Red Death version has more fantasy material, with various monsters, qabals of witches, etc. It is part of the Masque of the Red Death campaign setting, though, so those not familiar with the setting might not be able to use all of the information that is given.

The Guide to Transylvania is 96 pages in length. The inside covers feature various maps of Transylvania and the surrounding region. The book is broken down into 4 sections and 2 appendices:
The first section details the history of Transylvania, from the early Dacian culture, through Romanization, the invasion of the Turks, the reign of Vlad the Impaler, and on to "modern" day (1890).

The second describes the geography of the area, the cities, and various historical sites. Maps are given for some of the locations.

The third section describes the people and culture of Transylvania, including the Jews, Germans, Romanians, and Gypsies, along with various monsters that can be found in the area. It pays special attention to vampires and ways of combating them.

The fourth section is a collection of NPCs in the area, ranging from characters from Bram Stoker's Dracula, such as Vlad Dracula himself, Abraham van Helsing, and Jonathan Harker, to local politicians, cult members, and guild leaders. It also contains some of the more powerful monster characters, such as a Zombie Lord who controls an entire town, a ghost of a revolutionary, a powerful werewolf, and even Mihnea the Bad, son of Dracula. All 16 NPCs are provided with 2nd Edition stats.

The first appendix describes 5 different guilds and secret socities. Most of these are heavily linked to the world of Masque of the Red Death. The second appendix contains a single Monstrous Compendium entry for the Dhampir.

 

[hong]

I love beautiful cheesecake art. I also love politically incorrect people who thumb their nose at whiny-willies and hairy-heather’s.

D00d, if your willy is whiny, I think you need to whack it a bit more.

 

[ColonelHardisson]

I love beautiful cheesecake art. I also love politically incorrect people who thumb their nose at whiny-willies and hairy-heather’s. In other words, I love Avalanche Press.

Then you need to check out Bud Plant. I don't want to link directly to their site (there is some adult content), but the URL on the world wide web is the name I just gave. Bud Plant has been dealing in art and photography books and prints (focusing on comic art) for 30 years. They do have adult stuff, as I said, so be warned. The site is tasteful and professional, and I highly recommend getting their catalog (they have two - one is pretty much G-PG rated, while the other is the adult catalog. I prefer the tamer one, to be honest, cuz I like comics).

They also carry a lot of collectible genre stuff, like action figures and Marvel statuettes. I really like the scifi planetary surface diorama based on Vincent DiFate's work...

 

[Marion Poliquin]

I love beautiful cheesecake art.

I also love beautiful cheesecake art and yet I do not like the Avalanche covers. I don't find them well done at all.

Keith Parkinson, now there's a guy who knows how to do cheesecake to my taste.

 

[Voadam]

RogueJK

Thanks for the breakdown of the ESD.

Do you have the Avalanche one as well or are you just going from what they say on the site?

 

[Desdichado]

I like good cheesecake art too, but I don't know that I'd call Avalanche's covers really good cheesecake art. But like you, Kap, I do like those who have the cajones to thumb their noses at the political correctness nazis.

 

[enrious]

But like you, Kap, I do like those who have the cajones to thumb their noses at the political correctness nazis.

http://info.astrian.net/jargon/terms/g/godwin_s_law.html


Thank you for playing.